Holliewood (Completed)

chapter sixteen

"I didn't expect us to be coming back here," I said as we got to his apartment building.

"Well, here we are," he announced, holding his hands out with a smile, "my favourite place in the world."

We got into the elevator and he pressed the number for his floor. I leaned against the elevator wall, tilting my head in his direction.

"Let me guess? An indoor picnic?"

"Not quite," he said, shaking his head.

"A sip and paint?"

"Maybe next time," he said, bringing his finger to his lip as if in thought.

"Hmm," I stopped guessing because I figured I sucked at doing it. Or maybe I had guessed correctly, but he didn't want to blow it.

The elevator doors dinged and we made our way into his apartment. I admired the artistic photographs on his walls yet again, being mesmerised as if I was seeing them for the first time. In the process of looking around, I noticed everything still looked normal.

There was nothing set up. No picnic mat. No wine. No paint. Nothing. Just his everyday living room with the photographs, decor and vibrant green plants.

"So..." I trailed off, expecting him to tell me what was next.

"I want you to enter that room and put on the clothes you see on the bed," he instructed.

"That room?" I asked, pointing towards one of the two rooms in his apartment that I hadn't entered before.

"Yeah," he nodded his head."

"Odd request, but... okay," I sighed.

He took a seat on the couch and sat with his elbows resting on his knees. He huffed out air from his lips, a way to show me he was waiting for me to do as I was told.

"I have a feeling we're going out again," I shared my thought with him, trying to price everything together.

"What makes you think that?"

"I mean why else would you be telling me to get dressed in something you picked out."

"Instead of continuing the guessing game, you can just follow instructions and see for yourself," he responded, "also, I'm still sticking to your instructions. Indoors and private."

"Okay then... let me change," I announced.

I approached the room, turned the door handle and stepped inside. A warm aroma filled my senses, reminiscent of the cologne he had been wearing. The scent was that of wood, giving the atmosphere a cosy feel.

It was his bedroom.

This man had an obsession with plants. I'd never seen so many plants in one bedroom, but I'm guessing he wanted to stay true to the earthiness his apartment radiated. It was only fair I referred to him as a plant dad from that point on.

On his bed lay a white off-the-shoulder top along with baby blue denim jeans. Interesting outfit choice, I thought to myself

I quickly changed into the clothes, noting that the jeans were slightly loose, but that was expected since he had estimated my size. After folding my clothes neatly, I left them on his bed and exited the room, returning to the living room.

He was nowhere to be found. I heard fiddling from somewhere else in the apartment.

"I'm done," I announced loudly so he could hear me.

"Come inside," he spoke from behind one of the other closed doors. His voice was muffled.

"Inside where?"